Baked Blueberry Oatmeal, I Know a Guy

I have a blueberry guy from stall #3 at the City Hall Farmers' market.  

He has the sweetest, most summery blueberries.  It’s hard to find a bad berry in July—I understand that—but his stand has had the best ones three years running and he’s yet to burn me.  His berries are where it’s at.

My boyfriend has even commented on them.  Which is really saying something, because Dave gives out compliments like they’re ration stamps.  Like it’s wartime.  Like he’s about to run out.

Well, these blueberries got one.

Now, this next bit may not surprise you.  I am certainly not the first one to mention baked oatmeal.  It’s a recipe from Heidi Swanson’s cookbook, Super Natural Every Day.  Molly posted about it in March.  And then Jess posted about her version, made with apricots, just last week. Heck, there could be women all over the country having come-to-Jesus-moments with this oatmeal, for all I know.

I do understand that not everyone loves oatmeal.  But this is a berried whole grain breakfast you can slice, which should help anyone who’s written off oatmeal because of textural issues. The nuts add a rich, buttery note (as does some actual butter that gets melted in, as well).   It’s also sweet—but not too sweet—and good eaten both cold and warm.

It’s the kind of dish that you could use as a dumping ground for all sorts of stray seeds, nuts, and summer fruits.  Most recently, I’ve been entertaining a plum and hazelnut version.  I will keep you posted. But—in the meantime—blueberries tend to be crowd-pleasers.  So I suggest you give it a whirl.

It should also be noted that, while Dave didn’t say anything, there were two fairly large pieces of oatmeal missing the day after I baked it.

Sometimes, he’s a man of few words.  But the guy knows food.  And his fork speaks volumes.

Baked Blueberry Oatmeal

Adapted from Super Natural Every Day, by Heidi Swanson by way of Orangette

Ingredients:

• 2 cups oats
• ½ cup choice nuts, or seeds (I used pumpkin seeds and hazelnuts), toasted
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• 1½ cups blueberries
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1½ tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

Set the oven at 375 degrees. In an 8 x 8 or 10 x 7 inch casserole dish, mix together the oats, nuts, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

Scatter the blueberries evenly over the oats mixture.  In a medium bowl, combine the milk, syrup, egg, butter, and vanilla extract.  Pour the liquid over the oats; be sure it fully seeps down into the oats (you may need to use a spoon to help coax it).

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden and the oats are set.  Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Makes about 6 servings

Notes:

1. You can use fresh or frozen blueberries (no need to thaw, the frozen ones might just increase the baking time a bit).  
2. This is good warm, perhaps with another drizzle of maple syrup, but my favorite way to eat it is cold, with a fork, or out of hand if no one is watching. (Please note the recipe—as dictated by the ladies—has another 1½ tablespoon of butter drizzled on top.  I can’t argue with that, either.)

Early Plum Frozen Yogurt, This is Just to Say

One of my favorite poems is by William Carlos Williams.  It is about plums, which I love.  But it is also about apologizing without actually apologizing.  It feels sexy too and is called, "This is Just to Say"

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

A role the plum was born to play.  I only wish prunes got that level of respect.  Prunes get nose wrinkling and constipation.  I hate that.  (This is also what inspired the title of this very blog.)

No matter. I am a champion for plums of all kind.  Even the wrinkly ones.

So please allow me to introduce early plum frozen yogurt.

It pushes all the buttons you want a summer dessert to push.  It is refreshing, freckled with vanilla beans, layered with tart plum bits, and delicately sweetened.  I used deep purple plums with canary yellow flesh, which birthed a ballet slipper-colored base dissected with bright pink fleshy swirls.

All this just to say the yogurt was delicious.  So sweet.  And so cold.

Early Plum Frozen Yogurt

Inspired by Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer

Ingredients:

for the frozen yogurt base

• 1 quart plain low fat yogurt
• 1½ cups whole milk
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 2 ounces (4 tbsp) cream cheese, softened
• ½ cup heavy cream
• ⅔ cup sugar
• ¼ cup light corn syrup
• 1 vanilla bean pod, split, seeds and pod reserved

for the plum swirl and plum syrup

• 2 limes, 1 zested and both juiced
• 4 black plums, each sliced into 6 wedges
• ⅓ cup demerara sugar
• pinch of salt
• splash of rosewater (optional)

Instructions:

day 1

Over a large bowl, fit a sieve or colander double-lined with cheesecloth.  Pour yogurt into the lined bowl to drain; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (6 to 8 hours).
In a medium saucepan, place lime juice, zest, plums, demerara sugar, and pinch of salt and heat on medium, stirring occasionally, and gently. 

Once the skins start to separate from the flesh, remove enough slices from pan to make 1 heaping cup and place in a small bowl.  (The plums should be slightly softened, but not falling apart; it is okay to do this a few pieces at a time, as not all the plums will lose their skins at once.

The plums yellow flesh should turn bright pink from being cooked with their skins.)

Cook the remaining plums and their liquid down until thick (about 20 minutes); using a small sieve, strain out the skins, pressing down to extract all the juice.  You should have just over ½ cup plum liquid; add in the rosewater.  Place in a small container.  Cover and refrigerate both the plum halves and plum liquid.

day 2

Discard the liquid from the strained yogurt; measure out 1¼ cups of yogurt and set aside. (Use the small amount of leftover yogurt for another use.)  In a small bowl, whisk 3 tbsp of the milk with the cornstarch to make a slurry.  Whisk the cream cheese in a separate small bowl until smooth.  

In a medium saucepan, combine the remaining milk, cream, sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla bean (pod and seeds) over medium heat; boil 4 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching.

Remove the milk mixture from the heat, discard the vanilla bean pod, whisk in the cornstarch slurry, and return the liquid to medium heat until it thickens slightly, about a minute or two.  

Whisk a little of the hot mixture into the cream cheese, enough so that it becomes smooth, then whisk into the saucepan with the remaining milk.  Remove from heat; whisk in the yogurt and reserved plum liquid. 

Set a medium-sized metal bowl over a larger bowl filled with ice.  Set a strainer on top and pour the liquid through to remove any unseemly bits.  Let cool; cover and refrigerate the base overnight.

day 3

Churn the base in a frozen ice cream canister for 20 to 25 minutes, until the base pulls away from the sides of the canister, forming ribbons.  While the yogurt is churning, cut up the reserved plum halves into bite-sized pieces.  Spoon a little of the base into a freezer safe-container and then layer with plum bits; repeat layering until both the plums and base are all used up, ending with the base. 

Place a piece of parchment paper, cut to fit the container, over the top of the yogurt; seal and freeze at least 4 hours before serving.

Makes about a quart

Notes:

1. This is a hard frozen yogurt; you’ll want to take it out a few minutes to soften before scooping.
2. I suspect if you use plums with dark flesh, the result will be a darker shade.  
3. We are a tad premature for plum season right now in Massachusetts.  I had very good luck with some local supermarket fruit.  I think nectarines would be lovely here too.
4. I can never get my act together enough to let the cream cheese soften ahead of time, so I usually stick it in the microwave for a few seconds.  It does wonders.
    

Early Riser Polenta, For Us Humans

Very scary things have been said about polenta.  It is pasty.  It needs to be fussed over or it is all lumps and bumps. It burns if you so much as glance at it wrong.     

But here is the secret.  It has to be stirred.  And this cannot be hurried.  That is it.

It knows what it needs.  And what it needs is an hour to be ready.  So do not rush it.  Making polenta is mediation by way of cornmeal. 

I felt this needed to be discussed for a few reasons. 

One.  Because I had an early dinner with my brother a few weeks ago and the man revealed he has yet to latch on to the right polenta recipe.  Since he owns my great grandmother’s hand crank cavatelli maker, and actually uses it, I can assure you his polenta void is not for lack of wont.

Two.  Because at said dinner at a trendy-new-restaurant-which shall-remain-nameless, we had a side of farro that was barely passable.  Sad and pale and bored.  Like a New Englander trudging through March. And this should simply not be the case for Italian grains that require so little to taste delicious.

Three.  Because I recently visited Misty Brook Farm and have fallen for their Early Riser cornmeal, which they also feed to their pigs and chickens.  And I hope this balances out some of the implied elitism when I say it is organic, meaning it is a non-GMO rarity and is from a local farm. 

Any food that is fed to both farm animals and humans can't be too highbrow.  In fact, I hope we can come to live in a world where people say, “If it’s good enough for the pigs, it’s good enough for me.” 

During my research, I also stumbled across this quote from an online garden supply store about using Early Riser: “Chickens will produce eggs with deep golden yolks, cows love it, and it makes a high quality cornmeal for us humans as well.”  Now, cows are not technically built to eat corn.  But that aside, it is ground so fine and delicate that it makes the creamiest polenta known to man.

But you still have to stir it. 

So do your dishes while it gently bubbles on the stove.  You see, the key is stirring, and patience.  This makes a high quality polenta for us humans, as well.

Early Riser Polenta

Ingredients:

• 5 cups water
•  ½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus additional, to taste
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) butter
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Pinch of crushed red pepper
• Black pepper, to taste

Instructions:

In a 2-quart saucepan, bring the water to a simmer.  Add the salt and then slowly whisk in the cornmeal.  Continue to whisk until any lumps dissolve.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the cornmeal for about an hour, stirring regularly to prevent any lumps from forming.  The cornmeal will bubble occasionally. If it starts to sputter and splatter, turn down the heat.

The polenta is done when it is creamy and has reduced roughly by half.  (It should not taste floury or raw, if it does, cook it longer.)  Stir in the butter, cheese, and crushed red pepper.  T

Taste and adjust for seasoning.  Serve hot.

Makes about 3 cups

Notes:

1. I have made the recipe with standard yellow polenta (typically medium or coarse ground cornmeal), as well. (You can find Early Riser at Misty Brook Farm.)
2. If your polenta is looking too dry, add in a drizzle of water.